If you’ve stumbled across this post, it’s possible that you’re freaking out about the WSET level 3 test or you’re figuring out whether or not level 3 is for you. Take a deep breath because everything is going to be fine.
As many of you know, I took the WSET level 3 course online with Napa Valley Wine Academy and passed the exam with merit. It’s a 10-week course online that dives deep into production of red, white, sparkling, and fortified wines, viticulture, and the grapes and wines of the world. The book is about three times bigger than the level 2 book and the systematic approach to tasting (SAT) is a little bit lengthier and now introduces medium (+) and medium (-).
The exam consists of a blind tasting of a red and white wine, 50 multiple choice questions, and four short answer questions. The short answer questions are broken down into pieces, so it feels more like 16 short answer questions. You need 55% in both tasting and theory to pass this exam, so don’t think you’re going to skirt by with only excellent tasting skills.
Reread the book.
This is a tip I gave in my WSET level 2 guide, but it heavily applies to level 3 as well. Reread the book at least three times. The first time you read it, it’s because you’re doing the homework for the online course. The second time you read it, it’s to go back and learn the material. The third time you read it, you really want to grasp and understand the material. Rereading helps your brain go, “Oh, I remember reading about that and here’s what I know about it.”
Be strategic about your exam date.
I also gave this tip in my level 2 guide, but it’s an extremely important tip. I scheduled my exam out for two months after I finished the course, so I had time to study. To be honest, I think I should’ve scheduled for three months out to get that pass with distinction. If you have a full-time job and things to do, it might be smart to schedule for three or four months after your course ends just so you have extra time to study. You can always reschedule, but it does cost money to do so.
Make flashcards.
I cannot express how important it is to make flashcards for the level 3 exam. Everything in that book is fair game. Unfortunately, that means you’ll need hundreds of flashcards. I recommend making flashcards on Quizlet or for about $10/month, you can have access to Brainscapes WSET level 3 flashcards. I cannot recommend Brainscape enough. Those 1,900 flashcards were the reason I flew through the multiple choice questions in 20 minutes and was able to spend the rest of my exam time on the short answer questions.
Take practice exams.
Practice exams were another thing that helped tremendously with my studying. I took about one per week for four weeks straight leading up to my exam. Practice exams were also the reason I was able to recognize the exact format of some of the short answer questions and as luck would have it, one of the practice exams had the EXACT same question as my actual exam. You can’t really find that many practice exams online for free, so I paid about $30 for access to ThirtyFifty’s mock exams. Probably the best $30 I have ever spent. If you fail the exam, you have to pay $250 or something crazy to retake it, so $30 in comparison seemed like nothing to me. You can definitely pass without this though!
Practice tasting wines.
If you do take the WSET level 3 course online with Napa Valley Wine Academy, you get a kit with 12 wines to taste. It’s important to taste more than 12 wines in preparation for this exam. I tasted maybe about 20 and thought that I had practiced enough, but boy was I wrong. I actually only got a pass for my tasting portion of the exam! Taste, taste, taste and memorize the SAT card like it is nobody’s business.
Ending notes…
Something I used as a test taking strategy is that I went into the exam knowing that WSET does not dock points for wrong answers. This includes tasting. Write as many aromas as you possibly can even if you think they’re wrong. Don’t write blackberry if you’re tasting a white wine, but if you have trouble differentiating citrus, write down lemon, lime, and grapefruit or whatever you might think it is. There are correct answers!
I used the same strategy for short answers as well. If I forgot something, I wrote down as much as I knew and then some even if I was sure it was wrong. A question asked for five reasons why Dom Perignon might be expensive, and I wrote down nine.
Good luck!
